Responsible Authority

The responsible authority is the organisation or individual that has responsibility for a patient who is detained or subject to certain orders made under the Mental Health Act.

This is usually the local health board or managers of the responsible hospital or the local social services authority.

The responsible authority has certain duties in relation to these patients and their right to make an application to the Mental Health Review Tribunal for Wales to have their case reviewed, including:

Applications: ensuring patients know about and understand their right to make an application to the Mental Health Review Tribunal for Wales to have their case reviewed.

References: ensuring that the duty on the responsible authority to refer cases to the Mental Health Review Tribunal for Wales for review is met or that the duty to ask the relevant government ministers to refer a case for review is met.

Our guidance booklet contains important information about who makes the referral, the circumstances when a referral must be made and the tribunals procedures (Guidance Booklet MHRTW - 07).

Providing statements and reports: where an application or reference is made to the MHRT for Wales, to ensure that the duty on the responsible authority to provide the tribunal with certain information – usually a statement of relevant facts and clinical reports – is met.

Our guidance booklets contain important information about what information and reports the responsible authority must provide and the prescribed content and layout of the report (Guidance Booklet MHRTW – 10 and Guidance Booklet MHRTW - 11).

Our guidance booklets can be downloaded below. If you have problems downloading any guidance or you would like it in a different format please contact us.